1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automobile door hinges and more specifically such hinges which provide door check means for holding the door in the open position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the automotive door hinge art to provide check spring mechanisms which function to exert a force on the portion of a hinge carrying the door to control movement to and away from the fully open position of the door. For example, the assignee of the present invention employs a hinge in certain of the automobiles it produces which includes a bent-over strike tang on the door portion of the hinge which slides along and compresses a leaf spring member carried on the body portion of the hinge to control movement about the fully open position. While this has been shown to be a simple and effective mechanism, lubrication is required for easy and quiet operation, and the maintaining of contact with the leaf spring during hold-open operation increases the cyclic stress life requirement of the components.
Other examples of prior art hinges may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,317 to Marchione and U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,664 to Makano et al. These devices both disclose rather complex structures employing rollers engaging the check spring. Both are disadvantageously complex for some applications and the latter requires significant lubrication to facilitate the long rolling contact of its rollers with its spring.